Abstract 4189: Community cancer scientist program: A model for community member advocacy for cancer research
Authors: Brooke M. Hensel, Fern J. Webb, Eduardo Ibarra, Carolina Aristizabal, Rosa Barahona, Diana J. Wilkie, Sandra Suther, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Mariana C. Stern
Journal: Cancer Research (2023)

Abstract Community Cancer Scientist (CCS) programs are designed to educate community members on the importance and ethical conduct of clinical research that serves to connect researchers and the general population. This type of program allows research advocates to interact with their community, helping minoritized individuals to form trust with cancer researchers and in clinical trials.The purpose of our study was to develop and evaluate a novel bi-coastal and bilingual program to inform, educate and empower community members to become cancer research advocates in Florida (FL) and California (CA). Our program was tailored for African American (AA) and Hispanic/Latinx (H/L) adults. Primary objectives are to increase person power for cancer research advocacy and increase multi-directional communication between cancer advocates with cancer survivors, community members, academic scientists and policy makers. The CCS program is a 13-week program implemented 100% virtual by the FL-CA Cancer Research, Education and Engagement (CaRE2) Health Equity Center, a bi-coastal partnership between the Florida A&amp;M University, University of Florida, and University of Southern California where participants learned about cancers that disproportionately impact AA and H/L adults. Participants completed surveys at program start, midway, and end to assess knowledge gained and satisfaction, and a mentored advocacy project for community implementation. Five months after program end, we surveyed participants on impact and to provide support for their research advocacy.To date, a total of 26 adults have graduated from our program. We present data from the 2022 CCS cohort (N = 20) that included participants from FL and CA, which are among the top five states in the U.S with the largest AA and H/L populations. Regarding race and ethnicity, 13 participants were AA, 6 H/L, and 1 White, with 80% female participants. This cohort had 90% program completion (N = 18) and 5 advocacy projects: 2 on breast cancer, 1 on lung cancer, 1 on pancreas cancer, and 1 on prostate cancer. More than 50% of participants showed increased knowledge regarding cancer incidence, mortality and standard screening practices while program satisfaction remained high at end of program. Participants also provided feedback and recommendations such as offering a hybrid model for participants to interact with cancer researchers, and desired visiting CaRE2 scientific laboratories for hands-on engagement. In conclusion, we present findings from a novel virtual CCS bi-coastal and bilingual training program tailored for AA and H/L adults that can foster multi-directional communication between cancer research advocates with multiple stakeholders. We also discuss how these research advocacy cancer programs can be tailored to focus on specific initiatives important to eliminate cancer health disparities such as or examining cancer health disparities from a lifespan perspective. Citation Format: Brooke M. Hensel, Fern J. Webb, Eduardo Ibarra, Carolina Aristizabal, Rosa Barahona, Diana J. Wilkie, Sandra Suther, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Mariana C. Stern. Community cancer scientist program: A model for community member advocacy for cancer research. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 4189.